why does it seem twice as hard to walk up 2 steps instead of 1?

[Puppies04]

Going UP stairs is the least impact form of aerobics, save maybe swimming. Going DOWN stairs will destroy your knees very quickly.

You want to have a think about that again? No rush.

 

[brianmanahan]

so, with all this analysis nobody's mentioned the fact that going up 2 stairs is twice the work and therefor twice the energy in the same time

intuitively, it would seem like that

but i thought the movement savings would more than make up for it

 

[Puppies04]

so, with all this analysis nobody's mentioned the fact that going up 2 stairs is twice the work and therefor twice the energy in the same time

Is it twice the energy though? Muscles aren't 100% efficcient so twice the movement = twice the inefficiency.

 

[MrPickins]

I almost always skip every other step when going up stairs, It's more comfortable that way.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It just means you have knee cancer.

 

[brianmanahan]

I've been getting into tower running (yes it is a competative sport)

...

amazing stair climibing facts

...

wow dullard, thank you! i am going to research this. it looks like it could be fun to get into (once i get over the initial painful hurdle).

 

[brianmanahan]

It just means you have knee cancer.

 

[highland145]

Elevator, ftw.

 

[brianmanahan]

Elevator, ftw.

we got signs at work next to the elevator, that basically say we are lazy bums if we take said elevator

 

[futurefields]

walking up steps makes me tired

sounds like congestive heart failure, have you had a stress test>?

 

[dullard]

You want to have a think about that again? No rush.

No need. Stair climbing actually HELPS the knee. What exercises do you know that do that? Not many, certainly not many aerobic type exercises.

http://www.healthline.com/health/pain-relief/knee-pain-stairs#Overview1

(Also see my post below regarding your comment of destroyed knees at age 45)

 

[dullard]

wow dullard, thank you! i am going to research this. it looks like it could be fun to get into (once i get over the initial painful hurdle).

Stair racing is 80% mental. Sure your legs will feel like jelly after ~10 floors, but you power through that. At ~50 floors you'll feel it again. That is when you are gaining strength. You just have to keep going. Slow and steady. Honestly watch all the videos of the first link, they are the best that I have seen so far.

My next event is the Sears tower (assuming I get in before it fills up):
http://ric.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=event_information

Other races, with international rankings of runners: https://towerrunning.com/races.html

Interestingly most people in the top 10 that I've seen are 30 to 50 years old and male. The peak age seems to be right around 40. So it is a good sport to get into while you are older. At last year's Sears tower run, 12 out of the top 13 were 30 to 59 years old. But, someone who is often near the top of the rankings is Ned Greene, 70 years old: http://www.livewellnebraska.com/fit...cle_ea57fe30-b9df-11e4-8fb7-732884ae63eb.html

Ned will destroy you up stairs. And he keeps getting faster as he ages since it is so good for knees at leg health. He was tied for 36th place out of 2622 people at last year's Sears tower run. He isn't a fluke either. 38th place, Hal Carlson, was almost as old. It really is a sport for life where you can always be competitive.

 

[GasX]

we got signs at work next to the elevator, that basically say we are lazy bums if we take said elevator

1 floor up and 2 floors down

 

[GasX]

Stair racing is 80% mental. Sure your legs will feel like jelly after ~10 floors, but you power through that. At ~50 floors you'll feel it again. That is when you are gaining strength. You just have to keep going. Slow and steady. Honestly watch all the videos of the first link, they are the best that I have seen so far.

My next event is the Sears tower (assuming I get in before it fills up):
http://ric.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=event_information

Other races, with international rankings of runners: https://towerrunning.com/races.html

Interestingly most people in the top 10 that I've seen are 30 to 50 years old and male. The peak age seems to be right around 40. So it is a good sport to get into while you are older. At last year's Sears tower run, 12 out of the top 13 were 30 to 59 years old. But, someone who is often near the top of the rankings is Ned Greene, 70 years old: http://www.livewellnebraska.com/fit...cle_ea57fe30-b9df-11e4-8fb7-732884ae63eb.html

Ned will destroy you up stairs. And he keeps getting faster as he ages since it is so good for knees at leg health. He was tied for 36th place out of 2622 people at last year's Sears tower run. He isn't a fluke either. 38th place, Hal Carlson, was almost as old. It really is a sport for life where you can always be competitive.

Cycling is similar - endurance is an ability that is acquired, so older athletes cam become/stay competitive through long term training. If you start at a later age, you hold no advantage per se

 

[JEDI]

http://pjfit.com/rookie_stair_training/
"5.) Double-step it. Single-stepping might feel like it’s faster, but it’s not. Single stepping is also harder, because it’s less efficient and wastes energy. Double-stepping (skipping one step) works the muscles harder and through a greater range of motion, so it’s a better workout for that reason too. Then if you ever decide to be competitive with racing, you will already have the double-stepping technique down, which will be key, because all fast stair racers double-step – no exceptions – even for the little short female stair racers I know who are under 5 feet tall and less than 90 pounds."

thx.. will try it

 

[Vdubchaos]

If walking up the steps makes you tired you are clearly out of shape and you need to get more physical activity going in your life.

One idea for physical activity would be......going up steps on more regular basis, or until in shape.

 

[JEDI]

If walking up the steps makes you tired you are clearly out of shape and you need to get more physical activity going in your life.

One idea for physical activity would be......going up steps on more regular basis, or until in shape.

I must be in shape?
tried the stairmaster at my gym for the 1st time.

from dullard's link, it said 5-7 min for my 1st try. then increase 2 min till 15 min.
unfortunately, it didn't say how many steps/min.

I had it at 45 steps/min.
wasn't even breathing heavy. heck, didn't break a sweat.
I wasn't double stepping tho.

so how many steps/min should I set it to for a beginner?
or just keep upping it till I start breathing heavy?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Hey, man, "pearlike" is a shape.

 

[dullard]

I must be in shape?
tried the stairmaster at my gym for the 1st time.

from dullard's link, it said 5-7 min for my 1st try. then increase 2 min till 15 min.
unfortunately, it didn't say how many steps/min.

I had it at 45 steps/min.
wasn't even breathing heavy. heck, didn't break a sweat.
I wasn't double stepping tho.

so how many steps/min should I set it to for a beginner?
or just keep upping it till I start breathing heavy?

Stairmasters aren't the best, but they are better than nothing. The most obvious issue is that with a stairmaster you are hovering your mass (almost like an isometric exerise) rather than lifting your mass up the stairs. So, you end up being able to go 5% to 10% faster on a Stairmaster than you can in real stairs. It is like a treadmill, without wind resistance you can go faster on a treadmill than you can while running on a track. Also, Stairmasters tend to be tricky to double-step since you run out of Stairmaster tread just as you need to take the next step.

That said, I do use Stairmasters on occasion. I've been doing stairs for a bit over a year. For a 10 minute Stairmaster routine, I find 95 steps/minute challenging but not too challenging. It is a good warmup. I can go up to 20 minutes at that speed, but then I am completely wiped out. I find that if I want to really push hard in a short period of time, then 114 steps/minute is perfect for exhausting myself in 7 minutes. As far as I know, nothing else low impact will burn as many calories in 7 minutes.

Your 45 steps per minute speed would be just about right for double stepping, but it is far too slow for single stepping. 45 steps per minute (if double stepping) would put you in the upper half of the people that finished the Sears tower run (you would be 455th place out of 1248 males).

Actual stairs are better and you should try them if you can. My typical leg workout is to do 3 sets of a weight (such as squats) then run 10 floors. Then do 3 sets of a weight (such as lunges) then run 10 floors. Then do 3 sets of a weight (such as calf extensions), and 10 floors, etc. I keep that up until my workout time is up.

 

[highland145]

I must be in shape?
tried the stairmaster at my gym for the 1st time.

from dullard's link, it said 5-7 min for my 1st try. then increase 2 min till 15 min.
unfortunately, it didn't say how many steps/min.

I had it at 45 steps/min.
wasn't even breathing heavy. heck, didn't break a sweat.
I wasn't double stepping tho.

so how many steps/min should I set it to for a beginner?
or just keep upping it till I start breathing heavy?

What are you trying to do? Better cardio shape?

 

[edro]

I've been getting into tower running (yes it is a competative sport). All of the top stair runners do two steps at a time. It is way, way less effort to 2-step it vs. 1-step once you start doing it for more than a few flights. You just need to be sure to put your center of gravity ahead of you (lean forward so you aren't always working against yourself falling backwards).

See some of the tip videos here:

http://xgym.com/xtras/stairs/

See tip #5:
http://mensrunninguk.co.uk/top-feature/6-tips-tower-runners/

Again see tip #5:
http://pjfit.com/rookie_stair_training/
"5.) Double-step it. Single-stepping might feel like it’s faster, but it’s not. Single stepping is also harder, because it’s less efficient and wastes energy. Double-stepping (skipping one step) works the muscles harder and through a greater range of motion, so it’s a better workout for that reason too. Then if you ever decide to be competitive with racing, you will already have the double-stepping technique down, which will be key, because all fast stair racers double-step – no exceptions – even for the little short female stair racers I know who are under 5 feet tall and less than 90 pounds."

lol, wow
I am very interested... I will watch these tonight.

 

[norseamd]

When jumping steps it seems to me that is would actually be less hard if there were only half the steps at twice the size. Needing to properly place your feet every time to avoid seems more troublesome when jumping 2 steps instead of just 1 step. Add that to that mechanical differences and that is why it might be more work. Still I often jump steps and even more often just run up the stairway.

 

[brianmanahan]

leaning forward makes a ton of difference! i tried it again today and was shocked when i found that i had gone up 3 stories, it only felt like 2!

my legs ached for a little bit a few hours later, but i am definitely gonna be doing this every day.

i need to find taller stairs to try it on :hmm:

 

[dullard]

i need to find taller stairs to try it on :hmm:

Find a tall building, walk or run up. Ride the elevator down. Repeat as needed. Seriously.

Walking/running down does you no good (gravity is doing the effort, so you get next to nothing exercise wise) and puts massive strain on your knees (you get your normal walking/running weight hitting the ground but from a much higher distance so there is a much greater force).

 

[Childs]

I always take two steps at a time, but I think thats from high school when coaches said it was a good way to increase your vertical when you're not training.